Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service

A well written, well-researched, informative and entertaining history of the United States Postal Service form its inception under Benjamin Franklin to the present day. A nice mix of hard fact and anecdote.

The United States Postal Service is not new and it has been written about extensively over time, yet the author of this fascinating book has managed to cram in a lot of interesting stories, facts and more about this all-American institution.You don’t even have to be American or care for the postal service to find this book of interest. It mixes elements of business, politics, economics, history, sociology and much more besides together into a great fat book. Yet USPS is changing, shrinking and facing ever-critical threats from both competitors and politicians alike. What USPS is delivering is changing too, yet is it capable of keeping up with the new demands and is it being allowed to?The USPS is more than a staid public institution. It has innovated and invented over time. There is no reason why it could not in the future. Some of the statistics provided are just mind-boggling: six days a week 300,000 letter carriers deliver 513 million mail pieces, accounting for 40 per cent of the world’s total, delivered by truck, small aircraft, pack mule and even by foot.The author has done a great job in corralling a broad history and presenting it in an engaging, very more-ish style. It draws the reader in and keeps them ploughing through the book. Whether you are a casual reader or an academic using this as a source (with its own extensive series of endnotes and bibliography) you probably will get a lot out of this recommended book.